Talking With Phra Pandit: What's Up With Buddhist Novices? [Season 3, Episode 16]

Have you ever seen those little kids walking around a
temple dressed as monks? Well guess what - they ARE monks! Sort
of. Mostly. Well, probably more than you are, anyway. Definitely
more than we are.


On this episode, Greg talks to perennial BP favorite Phra
Pandit - a real, actual monk - about Thai novices, which is what
not-yet-monks are called in Thailand. Pandit explains the origin
of the 'novice' concept and how children in Thailand are often
placed in temples due to family or behavioral issues. Phra Pandit
notes that the system is not perfect - the young boys are
expected to follow the Buddhist precepts and cannot play football
or computer games or have relationships with girls - but that the
system somehow 'works' in that the lives of countless young boys
seem to be improved over time and many adults look back fondly on
their time as novices.


So what happens when the boys grow up and maybe decide they
don't want to be monks anymore? A lot of things, actually, and
Phra Pandit explains some of the many roads these young men can
take. Whatever happens, the novice system has proven its worth to
Thai society over the decades by helping troubled kids learn
discipline and how to adjust to being an adult.


And just to shake things up again, we play another round of
Word Association, where Greg challenges Ed to come up with
off-the-cuff replies to random Bangkok-based phrases he throws
out.


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